TWO-TIME SUPER HIGH ROLLER BOWL CHAMPION TIMOTHY …€¦ · 89117. Annual subscriptions are $39.95...

www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 33/No. 12June 3, 2020

Matt Damon VS Mike McDermott, And Rounders Cheating Moves

TWO-TIME SUPER HIGH ROLLER BOWL CHAMPION TIMOTHY ADAMS

HAS ALREADY CASHED FOR $5.9 MILLION THIS YEAR

Transitioning From Live To Online Poker

The Candy Store Isn’t Always Open

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Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 33/No. 12

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Features18

Two-Time Super High Roller Bowl Champion Timothy Adams Has Already

Cashed for $5.9 Million This YearBy Erik Fast

The Inside Straight8

Poker News Recap

12Player Of The Year Update

14Poker Strategy: Transitioning From

Live To Online Poker With Poker Vlogger Jeff Sluzinski

By Steve Schult

16Poker Stories Podcast

With Faraz JakaBy Card Player News Team

Strategies, Analysis & Commentary

222020: The Candy Store Isn’t Always Open

By Steve Zolotow

23Should You Go Pro?By Jonathan Little

24True Tales From A Hollywood Poker

Hustler: Matt Damon Vs Mike McDermott And Rounders Cheating Moves Revealed

By Houston Curtis

27Patience vs. Aggression

By Greg Raymer

28Badugi: A Discussion On Two-Card Draws

By Kevin Haney

Also In this Issue4

About Us

38Poker Leaderboards

Tournament Hand Matchups

25Tony Tran vs. Erkut Yilmaz

27Erkut Yilmaz vs. Kevin Rabichow

29Kevin Rabichow vs. Tony Tran

36Kevin Rabichow vs. Robert Heidorn

18 14

16

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

INSIDE STRAIGHTNews, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World

the

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Review Hundreds of Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy.

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FOUR-MAX POKER TO BE THE NORM WHEN LAS VEGAS CASINOS REOPEN

By Steve Schult

"Only four players will be allowed at a poker table, four players at a roulette table, six players at a craps table and only three per blackjack table."

Four-max poker will be the standard in Las Vegas poker rooms when casinos fi rst reopen.� e Nevada Gaming Control Board released health and safety policies for Silver State casinos to implement that will

allow them to resume gaming operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.� ose policies dictate that there will be a limited amount of seating available at every operational gaming table. Only

four players will be allowed at a poker table, four players at a roulette table, six players at a craps table and only three per blackjack table.

A player-per-table limit eliminates any sort of full ring, or even six-max poker for the immediate future. It essentially eliminates poker tournaments until these rules are relaxed and the virus becomes less of a concern.

It is part of broader social distancing measures regulators are forcing operators to comply with.Casinos will also ensure that large groups do not congregate in sportsbooks, bingo halls and keno lounges. � e guide-

lines also recommend that chairs and stools in front of every other slot machine be removed. Any area of the hotel or casino that forms a queue will require patrons to keep their distance from one another.

Other areas of the resorts will have similar measures in place. Dayclubs and nightclubs will remain closed until further notice.

In order to reopen, casinos must submit a plan that outlines how staff will comply with the new regulations. � ose plans, which will only allow casinos to operate at 50 percent capacity, must be submitted at least seven days before guests are allowed into the buildings again.

Aside from table limits and social distancing measures, new regulations include proper signage posted throughout the building reminding patrons of proper hygiene, mandated hand washing by employees on every break, appropriate personal protective equipment, most likely mask and facial coverings, worn by employees, and enhanced cleaning procedures.

� e policies still did not give an exact date or timeline for when casinos will reopen. Nevada casinos have been closed since Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a shutdown of all nonessential businesses on March 17. �

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

Former Poker pro Doug Polk is making waves in the Las Vegas political world after filing a notice of intent to recall Mayor Carolyn Goodman.

�e move comes a couple of weeks after Goodman made headlines with a controversial CNN interview with Anderson Cooper where she advocated for hotels and casinos to be reopened immediately and made remarks about using the city as a “control group” for coronavirus.

�e three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner made the first of a two-step process to initiate a recall election as he explained in a YouTube video he published to his channel.

�e first step was to file the notice of intent with the City Clerk. Polk needed to get three signatures from Vegas residents that voted in the last Mayoral election.

“I got a couple extra signatures just in case and we have an official petition signed,” said Polk.�e next step is acquiring 25 percent of the voters from the last election to sign a petition

requesting a recall election. �ere were 26,723 total votes the last time Goodman was elected, meaning Polk will need at least 6,681 of those voters to sign the petition.

Once the threshold is met and the paperwork is filed, Goodman will have to run again in an election. Polk clarified that if he is successful in his efforts, there is no guarantee that Goodman will be removed.

“�is isn’t an impeachment. �ere will be a new election. Goodman could win again,” said Polk.

Polk noted that there was a change.org petition to remove Goodman from office, but he informed his viewers that the petition was useless. �e only way Goodman can be removed from office at this point is through the ballot box.

At the end of his video, Polk joked about running against Goodman and jumped into a com-edy sketch where he gave a campaign speech centered around the premise that he was simply not Goodman.

Polk has tweeted in the past that he had political aspirations, but when reached for comment Polk indicated that it likely won’t be in a possible recall election against Goodman.

“At some point, I am going to get into politics,” said Polk. “I have a feeling this will not be it, but I’m not against the idea.”

�e current mayor responded to Polk’s actions on Twitter with a tweet that said “Regarding the recall effort: �is is America. �at’s his choice.”

Goodman has been elected to the position for three consecutive terms. Her term is scheduled to end 2024. She is following in the footsteps of her husband, Oscar Goodman, who held the same office over three terms from 1999-2011. �

FORER POKER PRO DOUG POLK STARTS PROCESS TO RECALL LAS VEGAS MAYORBy Steve Schult

“AT SOME POINT, I AM GOING TO GET INTO POLITICS,” SAID POLK. “I HAVE A FEELING THIS WILL NOT BE IT, BUT I’M NOT AGAINST THE IDEA.”

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - News, reviews, and interviews from around the poker world

MGM RESORTS MAY MAKE 63,000 FURLOUGHS PERMANENT LAYOFFSBy Steve Schult

MGM Resorts Proposes Las Vegas Strip Solution For Finishing The 2020 NBA SeasonBy Erik Fast

Furloughs could become permanent layoffs as some casi-no companies are realizing that the COVID-19 pandemic could have effects that reach further than just the length of the shutdown.

According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal Report, MGM Resorts sent a legal notice to employees that those furloughs could “last more than six months or become permanent.” Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle sent the letter and cited a possible decline in travel and tourism as the reason for the possible permanency of the furloughs.

MGM continues deep cuts. �e company laid off four Las Vegas Strip hotel presidents and delegated those respon-sibilities to the presidents of the remaining Strip properties. It has also been reported that when gaming gets approval from the state to reopen, MGM won’t reopen all of its properties at once.

Instead, Nevada’s largest employer will likely open a handful of casinos and gradually reopen the rest as it is proved that casino resorts can operate while keeping guests safe.

Station Casinos will implement that exact plan in Nevada by keeping Palms, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, and Texas Station casinos closed initially. CEO Frank Fertitta also announced that the company would be laying off a “significant but unspecified number of employees.”

Shortly after Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency and shut down all ‘nonessential’ businesses on

March 17, MGM furloughed 63,000 workers. �e company employs 70,000 domestic workers in total with its nine casino properties on the Las Vegas Strip, two in Mississippi, as well as one in Atlantic City, Detroit, Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts and New York.

Furloughed workers were originally eligible to receive benefits from the company’s health plan through June 30. In response to the news, MGM has extended that deadline through Aug. 31.

�ere is still no definitive timeline for when Nevada casinos will open their doors again. �

Both the Las Vegas Strip and the players of the National Basketball Association are currently sitting idle, sidelined by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. According to the New York Times, MGM Resorts International has come up with a solution that might put both of those parties back in action.

MGM reportedly proposed that their currently unused strip properties could be utilized as a quarantined village that could house professional athletes and their families, as well as league personnel and the media workers required to broadcast the games to fans around the world. �is idea would allow the remaining games of the season to be played in a centralized and controlled environment, removing the need for teams to undertake potentially dangerous travel from venue to venue in order to play.

Each NBA team plays 82 games during their regular season, with 16 teams making the playoffs. When play was halted on March 11, the 30 teams of the league had all completed between 63-67 games each, depending on quirks

in the scheduling.�e pitch to the NBA and WNBA report-

edly offered the Mandalay Bay as the hub of this quarantined block on the south end of the strip, with up to 24 basketball courts to be built in the connected convention center. �e Mandalay Bay is connected to the Four Seasons and the Delano, with an enclosed walkway to the nearby Luxor Hotel which would house MGM service staff were the pro-posal accepted.

MGM’s offer apparently included the use of the trap-pings of typical Las Vegas vacations for those staying in the quarantined area, including spas, lounges, and even gaming areas.

Similar proposals have reportedly been made to other major sports leagues facing similar difficulties in finish-ing their current seasons, including the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. �

"Nevada’s largest employer will likely open a handful of casinos and gradually reopen the rest as it is proved that casino resorts can operate while keeping guests safe."

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

LEGENDARY SPORTS BETTOR BILLY WALTERS TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISONBy Steve Schult

Gross gaming revenue from Macau casinos plum-meted in April, marking the biggest year-over-year drop in Macau’s gambling history.

Macau casinos won $95 million from gamblers in April. �e figures represent a 97 percent decline from April 2019, topping February’s record for its 88 percent drop, stemming mostly from the 15-day forced closure of casinos in response to coronavirus.

�ere was a slight rebound in March, as gaming rev-enue only fell 80 percent, but as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout the rest of the globe and the Chinese government continues to restrict visas, the numbers dropped to record lows.

According to a report from the South China Morning Post, casino operators are losing $1 million per day as bac-carat and roulette tables “remain nearly empty.”

�e Chinese newspaper is also reporting that Melco Resorts and Entertainment, a Hong Kong-based gam-ing company with multiple properties in the former Portuguese colony, began slashing its executive staff. Chairman Lawrence Ho forfeited his salary for the rest of the year, citing that the number of customers in the casinos is “virtually zero.”

�e pandemic seems to be acting to bottom out the market, which has seen seven straight months of declin-ing revenue. Before the spread of coronavirus, the Macau gambling industry was suffering declines from both the trade war with the U.S. and the escalating protests in Hong Kong.

Executives from American casino companies are opti-mistic about a quick turnaround in Macau’s gaming market.

Bill Hornbuckle, acting CEO for MGM Resorts, said in a earnings call that the casinos should recover early in the summer as the virus concerns begin to slow. Rob Goldstein, president of Las Vegas Sands, said that that the Chinese government will begin lifting travel restrictions to Macau from the mainland later this month.

Increased visitation to the island will undoubtedly spark an uptick in gaming revenue, as it is the centerpiece of the local economy. �

Macau Gaming Revenue Plunges 97% In AprilBy Steve Schult

The COVID-19 pandemic is going to allow legendary sports bettor Billy Walters to serve the rest of his five-year prison sentence under house arrest.

In early May, Walters was released from federal prison in Pensacola, Florida. Walters has served more than three of his five-year-sentence for insider trading.

During his gambling career, Walters was considered one of the sharpest sports bettors on the planet. During his 39-year sports betting career, he only had one losing year and netted tens of millions in the process.

He will serve the remainder of his sentence in his San Diego home. He will be considered a free man on Feb. 14, 2022.

The combination of Walters’ age and the spread of COVID-19 throughout the U.S. prison system are key components of why Walters is being released from custody.

The passage of the CARES Act, which brought unem-ployment insurance to professional poker players, allowed Attorney General William Barr to release some older prison inmates into home arrest as the coronavirus has proven to be more lethal to the older population.

The 73-year-old was convicted in July 2017 and slapped with a $10 million fine for six years of insider trading with for-mer Dean Foods Co. Chairman Tom Davis.

Between 2008-2014, Walters made $25 million based off information given to him by Dean about a relationship with a restaurant company that was not yet public. In a 2018 inter-view with ESPN, Walters blamed golf pro Phil Mickelson for the conviction.

Walters claimed that Mickelson owed him $2 million from a gambling debt. Walters offered up the inside information, which led to Mickelson also netting seven-figures, which was subsequently forefeited to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a 2016 civil case.

Last October, Walters appealed to a federal judge that his sentence should be cut short because of “prosecutorial mis-conduct.” Walters argued that the prosecutors leaked facts to the media before the trial and that those leaks caused Davis to cooperate with authorities. The judge denied his motion. �

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Place Players Points Final Tables Winnings

1 Vincent Wan 2,280 1 $909,420

2 Farid Jattin 2,177 6 $1,205,493

3 Anton Suarez 2,100 1 $1,000,000

4 Cary Katz 2,095 8 $2,420,543

5 Kahle Burns 1,956 6 $2,923,988

6 Ngoc Hoang 1,900 1 $909,420

7 Aaron Van Blarcum 1,896 8 $1,854,522

8 Sam Greenwood 1,881 6 $1,357,807

9 Tim Adams 1,857 6 $5,904,777

10 Brian Altman 1,848 3 $542,866

11 Michael Addamo 1,806 5 $2,143,310

12 Pablo Silva 1,800 1 $1,000,000

13 Christian Rudolph 1,750 1 $620,000

14 James Romero 1,736 2 $745,000

15 Erik Seidel 1,686 5 $669,649

16 Eric Afriat 1,680 1 $394,120

17 Alex Foxen 1,597 6 $1,603,559

18 Nino Ullmann 1,540 2 $370,609

19 Stephen Chidwick 1,537 6 $1,043,973

20 Gareth Pepper 1,520 1 $690,000

THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - Player of the year

A Look At Players Outside the Top 20 Making Waves In Recent Weeks

Ross Ward - 28th Place (1,268 points)

Ross Ward has been one of the most consis-tent players in smaller-stakes tournaments so far in 2020. The Gainesville, Georgia resi-dent has already made seven final tables this year, with three outright title wins and a survivor event victory earned along the way. He started the year off with a win in a $340 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza in January, defeating a field of 518 entries to win $31,179 and 336 points. Less than a fortnight later he won a $400 buy-in event at the Wynn Signature Series, outlasting 381 other play-ers to earn another $20,501 and 240 points. He was also among the 11 players to earn the top payout in a survivor event at the Wynn Spring Classic in late February, earning $3,000 and 45 additional points. His fourth title came in a $600 buy-in event at the WPT DeepStack Showdown at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. He defeated a field of 85 entries to earn $10,000 and 96 points for that vic-tory. His largest score of the year came in a $1,600 buy-in, also held at The Venetian. He placed fourth out of 699 entries in that event to earn $100,000 and 420 POY points. With $175,441 in year-to-date earnings and 1,268 points, Ward now occupies the 28th-place spot on the Card Player Player of the Year leaderboard.

28

As of 5-5-2020

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44

Phil Ivey - 33rd Place (1,190 points)

Poker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey currently sits in 33rd place in the 2020 POY rankings, with one title and four final-table finishes through the first quarter of the year. All of Ivey’s cashes took place at the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Sochi, with three of the scores coming in short deck events. Ivey finished runner-up in a $50,000 buy-in event in that format, earning $525,000 and 425 points. Just two days after that he won a different $50,000 buy-in short deck tournament, securing $865,050 and 510 points as the champion. It was his first live tournament victory in nearly two years. He closed out the streak with a fifth-place showing in a $100,000 buy-in short deck event for $240,000 and another 150 points. The ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner has not finished inside the top 50 in the year-end POY standings since 2012, when he ended up in 21st place. Ivey has been an infrequent participant in live tournaments throughout much of this decade, likely due to his being embroiled in legal battles over contested baccarat winnings.

Seth Davies - 44th Place (1,075 points)

Seth Davies has made four final tables already in 2020, cashing for $1,031,133 in POY-qualified events since the new year began. The 2016 World Poker Tour Canadian Spring Championship winner kicked his year off with a third-place finish in a $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller at the Australian Poker Open for $121,613 and 280 points in late January. A few weeks later he finished as the runner-up in a $10,000 buy-in event at the Aria Winter High Roller Series, earning another $114,000 and 200 points. He then went on a cashing spree in Sochi, earning three cashes and making two official final tables. In the span of a week in Russia, Davies cashed for $795,520 and added 595 to his annual points total. The Bend, Oregon native has climbed into 44th place in the POY standings as a result, with 1,075 total points so far. He’ll be a player to watch when live tournament action gets back underway.

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT - poker Strategy

POKER STRATEGYTransitioning From Live To Online Poker With

Poker Vlogger Je� SluzinskiBy Steve Schult

Jeff Sluzinski, better known as Jeff “Boski” to his viewers, has one of the most popular poker vlogs on YouTube. Sluzinski’s vlog chronicles his life as a poker pro playing tournaments in Las Vegas.

The Michigan native has made his living playing tournament poker, both live and online for the last 15 years. He has racked up $919,421 in live tourna-ment earnings over his lengthy career, as well as more than $630,000 on the virtual felt.

He is known as the “Original ACR Pro” and is currently a sponsored pro for Americas Cardroom.

Since the coronavirus-induced gaming shutdown in the U.S., many live players have been forced to move to the online realm to continue playing. Card Player sat down with Sluzinski to discuss some of the finer points of transitioning from live to online poker.

Steve Schult: �ere are lots of poker players around the country who aren’t able to play live poker and have been forced into the online world. What is going to stand out to new online players as the biggest difference between the two variants?

Jeff Sluzinski: �e action. Even if you are just playing one table online, you will be seeing a lot more hands than you would be if you were live. �e dealer doesn’t have to shuffle the cards, players don’t take as long to act, and you have the option to multi-table.

So you will have two, three, or even four times as much action depending on how many tables you can play. Take it easy, take it slow, and don’t be discouraged. Don’t start thinking that you alone are getting more bad beats, more action hands. It’s just a numbers game. You’re going to see more bad beats. You’re going to see more coolers. It’s not rigged.

SS: With the increased variance because of the increased number of hands, is the threat of tilt more prevalent? Is there more of an emphasis on the mental game aspect of poker?

JS: You could say that. It’s a lot easier to tilt online because there are more hands. You’re going to get hit with more shots. Imagine you’re in a boxing match. In a live setting, you might play one round. But online, you play 12 rounds in the same time you play one round and you’re going to absorb a lot more punches.

And how you deal with this adversity is going to dictate how your session goes, so you’re a lot more susceptible to tilt.

SS: I like that analogy. �at’s a good one. JS: It feels like a punch to the gut every time I take a

bad beat. It never stops hurting. SS: What about the absence of physical tells? A lot of

new online players don’t enjoy the fact that you can’t see your opponents and read their body language. How reli-able can timing tells and other online tells be to replace the physical aspect of live play?

JS: Since there are no physical tells, timing and sizing tells are going to be more important. It’s going to be more of a math-based game. �ere’s programs, such as legal heads-up displays [HUDs], which anyone can use, that can give you a better idea of your opponent’s tendencies, even if you’re not paying attention.

SS: I know some sites like Americas Cardroom allows a HUD and other sites like WSOP.com and Global Poker do not. Do you notice a difference in game quality between sites with or without HUDs? What are your overall thoughts on this type of software?

JS: Some players do feel that it gives some people an unfair advantage. Some people have even messaged me recently and they said ‘Hey man, I saw you were using a HUD. �at’s cheating. �at’s like using steroids.’

Well, I get what you’re saying. But if steroids were legal and didn’t hurt your body and were available to everybody, then I guess everybody would take steroids. Information is power. And I think most sites you can have a HUD on. I see both sides of that coin, but they have been around since day one and I think there are more unethical practices going on that I think are more dangerous to the commu-nity than HUDs.

It’s just the nature of the beast. If there is money being wagered, people are going to find an edge. �at’s just the harsh reality of it.

SS: If someone came to you and said they were going to use a HUD for the first time. What stats would you tell them to look at to spot leaks in both their own game and their opponents?

JS: It’s going to take you a long time to set up the HUD and understand what the numbers mean. Otherwise, it’s going to be screen clutter and you won’t even know what you’re looking at. So, you want to educate yourself as to what the numbers mean and what those stats say about a player.

In general, a fishy player will have a big gap between

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THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

their PFR [preflop raise percentage] and their VPIP [vol-untarily puts money into pot percentage]. �at means they limp a lot and don’t raise a lot. �ey might be something like a 40/10 [VPIP/PFR], while a solid reg might be 25/20.

SS: One of the other aspects that stick out to me is the stakes that are played. Most players play smaller stakes online than they would live. $1-$2 live doesn’t play the same as $1-$2 online. Why is that?

JS: �at’s a very good point. I think there is a softer player pool live than online and as a general rule, your stakes should be divided by 10 when you play online. If you are normally a $1-$2 player live, you should be playing $.10-$.20 online.

If you play $100 tournaments live, then you should play $10 tournaments online. �at is going to have a comparable skill level and I believe this is because the average person that plays online is just more versed than live players. �ey have played more hands and they have more experience.

�e volume and the experience are going to make them a better player overall and it is going to make the bad play-ers go broke quicker. �ey’ll play more hands per hour even if the stakes are lower, especially with the ability to multi-table.

SS: Speaking of multi-tabling, back in the glory days of online poker, there were several guys that would play 24 tables or more. �at’s not really prevalent anymore, but as people get more comfortable playing two or three tables at a time, what is the max number of tables they can realisti-cally shoot for?

JS: It definitely depends on the person. Back in the day, I was one of those players on PokerStars. I played 20 tour-naments at once and just stacked them all on top of one another and they just kept popping up.

Decision. Boop. Another decision. Boop. �ey just kept popping up one after another. �e main reason people have cut back on tables is because the game has gotten harder. �erefore, you have to pay closer attention to your opponents in different situations, while tournament or table selecting more.

SS: In your opinion, which is going to have the softer player pool? Online tournaments or cash games.

JS: I’m sure cash games are closer to solved, if that’s a thing. But there aren’t as many variations in cash games as there is in tournaments. And it’s always safer to play tournaments. Not to say that there is a lot of collusion and cheating going on in online poker, but if you are in a 1,000-person online tournament, there is less of a chance that two buddies are sharing hole cards. I do think that sites, for the most part, do a very good job of policing this.

SS: �e last thing I wanted to touch on was bankroll management. With the increased variance, how many buy-ins is considered reasonable to have for a given stake? Should you even keep your entire roll online or keep some of it separated?

JS: As long as you trust the site, you should have at least 100 buy-ins for your average tournament buy-in amount. If you play a $10 tournament and a $20 tournament, then your average buy-in is $15. So you should have at least $1,500 ready to put into play whenever need be.

But 250 buy-ins is a more reasonable amount if you want to become a professional poker player in order to withstand the swings of playing tournaments. And even then, there is still a very good chance that you’ll lose all that money, even if you are a winning tournament player. �at’s how insane the swings can be.

You can play where you fold a lot and try to cash at a slightly higher rate to lower the variance, but that will hurt your long-term win-rate.

SS: Any other advice for aspiring online players? JS: Don’t take shots, unless it’s a super juicy tourna-

ment. And don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose. Tilt can be a real problem, especially if the money really

means something to you. �at is really going to amplify the tilt.

Let’s say you got your stimulus check and your wife tells you that there are some bills to pay. And you say “Honey, I’m going to double it online.” Don’t do that.

Tell her “Honey, let me put $50 online and $1,150 we’ll put towards the bills and food. Let me have a little fun.” �

“I think there is a softer player pool live than online and as a general rule, your stakes should be divided by 10 when you play online. If you are normally a $1-$2 player live, you should be playing $.10-$.20 online If you play $100 tournaments live, then you should play $10 tournaments online. That is going to have a comparable skill level.”

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POKER STORIES PODCAST

Card Player Podcast

With Faraz Jaka

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into

their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

To listen, visit www.cardplayer.com/poker-podcasts or download it directly to your device from any number of mobile apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify. Catch up on past episodes featuring notables such as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Justin Bonomo, Nick Schulman, Barry Greenstein, Michael Mizrachi, Bryn

Kenney, Mike Sexton, Brian Rast, Chris Moneymaker, Maria Ho, Joe Cada, Freddy Deeb, and many more.

Age: 34From: San Jose, CaliforniaOnline Tournament Earnings: $4.3 MillionLive Tournament Earnings: $6.7 Million

Top Live Tournament Scores

July 2009 WPT Bellagio Cup Main Event 2nd Place $774,870

Jan. 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event

3rd Place $755,000

Dec. 2009 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event

3rd Place $571,374

April 2018 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event

2nd Place $454,496

July 2009 WSOP $5,000 Six-Max NLHE 3rd Place $400,526

Faraz Jaka is a former World Poker Tour Player of the Year, and has more than $6.8 million in career live tournament earnings, to go along with another $4.3 million won online. The 34-year-old from San Jose, California has several notable final-table finishes on his poker resume, including runner-up showings at the Bellagio Cup for $774,870 and the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $454,496. He finished third at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $571,374 and third at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for another $755,000. He also has six final-table appearances at the World Series of Poker.

Jaka is well known for his nomadic lifestyle, having reduced his belongings to just two small suitcases so that he could more easily travel the globe between tournament stops. CNN even went so far as to dub him ‘The Homeless Millionaire’ as the University of Illinois graduate split his time between five-star hotels and the couches of strangers. After nearly a decade of non-stop moving, Jaka briefly put down roots in Brazil for an online poker project, before recently resuming his travels on the circuit with his new wife. Jaka has also started to share his poker knowledge and years of experience with the students at two-time WPT champion Jonathan Little’s PokerCoaching.com website.

Highlights from this interview include being an angry kid, running the mile with a torn ligament, escaping home and crossing the country, being �eToilet, blowing a six-figure bankroll in college, going from dorm games to Vegas, falling from $50-$100 no-limit to $5 sngs, WPT POY, getting Card Player Magazine respect, poker pros who ‘fake it’, reducing his life to two bags, the ups and downs of launching an online poker site, tying the knot, poker coaching, ten days of silence in �ailand, selling magnets and FUBU, underground cash games in Mexico City, playing with Kevin Hart and Nelly, and an ideal trip into the Congo.

016_Podcast_Faraz Jaka.indd 16 5/14/20 2:14 PM


THE INSIDE STRAIGHT

To listen to all Card Player Poker Stories Podcasts for free, visit www.CardPlayer.com/link/podcast Catch up on previous episodes and subscribe to have new episodes automatically appear in your podcast app so you can listen on the go.

The Transcript Highlights

How He Built And Blew A Six-Figure Bankroll While Still In CollegeJulio Rodriguez: I want to talk about your initial run in college. You found poker, you did pretty well. You got yourself a

nickname because you liked chasing fl ushes. But how the hell do you run up a six-fi gure bankroll and then blow it all in a week?Faraz Jaka: Well, blowing it all wasn’t that hard.To start out, there was a guy playing in the dorms and he wanted to teach everybody else how to play. We did a $5, or $10

tournament, it was about 12 or 13 of us. Only two of the guys knew how to play, and I ended up winning it. � en we got into it and started playing a weekly 10-25 cent game. I remember being down like $180 after a couple of weeks, which was a lot of money for me at the time, and I could see where this was going. I didn’t want to spiral and blow a bunch of money I shouldn’t. I decided that if I get down $200, I would stop playing.

After that, I went on a tear. I won a few hundred dollars and started looking for bigger games around campus, fraternities, charity events. I started playing online, and would jump into these huge games I shouldn’t have been in. Jump in $5-$10 with the minimum buy-in, and run it up. I built up a $10,000 bankroll over the course of a couple months.

JR: So far that’s normal…FJ: Me and my friend Ben Lefew started taking these crazy trips to Vegas from college. I showed up to his dorm once, � ursday

night, 1 a.m., and said, ‘Ben, we should go to Vegas!’He said, ‘I know, we are always talking about it. Let’s plan a trip.’I said, ‘No! We should go now!’Literally on a whim, we fl y to Vegas. I remember we booked a later fl ight so we could go to the bank fi rst, to get money. We

thought you shouldn’t carry large amount of cash, so we needed to get traveler’s checks. Like that was what we were supposed to do. (laughing)

We took a couple thousand each… show up to Vegas, and of course don’t even use the traveler’s checks, just the ATMs. He was playing $80-$160 limit, and I was playing $10-$20 no-limit. Buying in for $2,000 with only $10,000 to my name. We’d both make like $5,000 or $6,000, fl y back and become heroes in our dorm. We literally fl ew back the next week and did it again, and it became a regular thing. Now we’re the kids at school with money, buying everybody drinks, throwing crazy parties.

I started playing online more, and jumped into these $25-$50 games. I had a crazy week where I ran $5,000 into a $30,000 stack. I started playing heads-up games, and I was playing guys… I didn’t even know who they were at the time. I was playing Prahlad Friedman, Ram Vaswani. � ese were the guys who sat there, waiting for someone to play them at the largest games. I was battling those guys, unaware of who they were, with my hyper-aggressive style, and basically ran it up to $170,000 by the end of the week.

I was fl ying high, thinking I was going to be making millions of dollars a year, just doing this. I stopped going to class. I ended up basically losing it all over the course of the next year, which was a very dark and depressing time period for me. Just to go from that high, to that low in a short period of time, was really tough.

JR: I’m amazed you stayed in poker.FJ: I didn’t even go from $170,000 to broke. I went from $170,000 to negative $30,000. I was in debt from borrowing some

money. My parents had found out I was playing because an article came out in the University newspaper that said, ‘Student Wins $120,000 Playing Online Poker.’ � ey think I’m in summer school, I’m really in Vegas playing cash games during the WSOP. So my dad is freaking out, and I agreed to invest a bunch of the money in property, but now I’ve lost it all and I was too embar-rassed to tell them. �

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TWO-TIME SUPER HIGH ROLLER BOWL CHAMPION

TIMOTHY ADAMS HAS ALREADY CASHED FOR $5.9 MILLION THIS YEAR

How The Canadian Pro With $24.4 Million In Career Earnings Rose To The Pinnacle of Tournament Poker

By Erik Fast

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Timothy Adams has cashed for more money than any other live poker tournament player so far in 2020. In fact, his $5,904,777 in scores since the new year dawned was more than double

the amount that any other player had earned before the casinos were closed worldwide.

�e 33-year-old Canadian poker pro kicked off the year with a spree of big scores in Australia, making four final tables down under, cashing for nearly $2.2 million and winning two titles along the way. He took down a $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the Australian Poker Open and followed that up by winning the inau-gural $250,000 AUD buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Australia for $1.5 million less than a week later.

In March Adams made his way to Russia for the MILLIONS Super High Roller Sochi series. He got his feet wet with a final-table finish in one of the early high-stakes events, earning $116,000 for a fifth-place show-ing in a $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. Just 41 days after winning the Super High Roller Bowl Australia, Adams outlasted a field of 40 entries in the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Russia to earn the title and the top prize of $3.6 million. Adams became just the second player to ever win two SHRB titles, after Justin Bonomo won both the Las Vegas and Macau events held in 2018.

His incredible run didn’t just get going in 2020. He made a total of 13 final tables in 2019, winning four titles and cashing for nearly $6.3 million along the way. Adams now has more than $24.4 mil-lion in lifetime live tourna-ment earnings, which puts him in 20th place on poker’s all-time money list. He is currently the second-highest earning Canadian player of all-time, behind only Daniel Negreanu, who has $40.9 mil-lion in career cashes.

While many of Adams’ biggest victories have come in high roller events, he is also a World Series of Poker brace-let winner. He defeated a field of 750 entries in the $2,500 buy-in four-max no-limit hold’em event at the 2012 WSOP to earn the gold hardware and the top prize of $392,476. Card Player recently spoke to Adams during the live tournament shutdown that resulted from the global coro-navirus outbreak. In the conversation, he discussed how he first got into the game, his rise to the highest stakes in the world, his back-to-back SHRB titles, and more.

Card Player: When did you first start to play poker, and how did you find the game?

Timothy Adams: First year of university when I was 18. Didn’t know what poker even was and my room-mate played, had a set of chips and everything. �ere were quite a lot of other people that played poker around campus and we started a nightly game in our residence rec room, usually $5 MTT (multi-table tournament) style

or even $0.25-$0.50. I think people were buying in for $5-$20 and playing shallow-stacked cash games. After that, I eventually got someone in the residence game who was playing on Full Tilt Poker to send me some money on there. I kept losing but I was very interested.

CP: What about the game piqued your interest?TA: I just felt right away that the game was very com-

plex and that made me very intrigued. It felt like there were endless situations and possibilities to figure out, and I guess that’s what has kept me interested for all these years.

CP: Do you think you have any particular skills or personality traits that helped you excel at poker?

TA: I think what has helped me a lot throughout the years, especially in the early years, is that I have a good memory. I tend to remember very random things and could recall a lot of poker hands in detail. Nowadays, a good memory still helps a lot, but I think the most important trait is having a good work ethic.

CP: Do you have a background playing other strategy games or sports? Did any of your immediate family, par-

ents, or siblings play?TA: I had no background

in strategy games growing up. I played a lot of sports growing up and was lucky enough to have a great child-hood with a lot of active friends. My main sports I played were ice-hockey and soccer. I’ve always been driv-en by competition and I’ve always loved tournament formats in sports.

CP: When you made the decision to go pro, was the move supported by your family?

TA: I think it was a grad-ual thing regarding poker being a part of my life. My parents didn’t have much of a clue what poker was and at first were worried that it would take over my stud-

ies. I made sure to complete my degree in commerce at McMaster University, mainly for my parents, even though I was playing so much poker throughout my university days.

CP: You won a WSOP bracelet nearly eight years ago. What did that victory mean for you at that point? Did it change the trajectory of your career at all, from your point of view?

TA: It was essentially a stepping stone for me to start playing more live poker. I was mainly playing online at that point. Once you have a bit of success playing live, it definitely gives you the itch to keep going.

CP: How did the transition to playing high roller and super high roller events happen?

TA: I was basically having success playing both online and live and had the opportunity to play bigger stakes. �at’s generally the progression for most people jumping into the high roller tournaments.

“I’ve always been driven by competition and I’ve always loved tournament formats

in sports.”

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CP: Do you remember the first high roller $25,000 or above you played? Was it any more stressful, or were you able to take the changes in stride?

TA: I played the $50,000 buy-in event at European Poker Tour Barcelona in 2012. �at was quite new to me as it was my first time playing poker in Europe. I was also playing the biggest buy-in of my life. I don’t think I was overly nervous, but I did punt off my stack on day 2 in terrible fashion, so there were likely some nerves that I was oblivious to.

CP: Did you find success in super high rollers right away, or was there a bit of getting accustomed to their differences compared with other events?

TA: I played a few super high rollers between 2012 to 2014 or so. �ere were only a few of them per year com-pared to nowadays where there are a few at each stop. I had a couple decent runs in my first few of them, in Monaco and London, which probably got me hooked. (Author’s note: Adams finished fourth in a €100,000 buy-in at the EPT Grand Final in Monaco in 2013 for $627,525 and sixth in the €50,000 buy-in at EPT London later that year for another $280,793). I just loved the atmosphere. �ey were intense but at the same time, very casual. �e banter at the table was always friendly and pleasant.

CP: What is your favorite part of playing primarily high rollers? What’s the best aspect of this niche part of the live tournament circuit, for you? Conversely, what’s your least favorite part?

TA: Nowadays, most of my opponents have become close friends of mine. So it’s just nice to meet up with people you consider friends at these poker stops, play poker against them, hang out off the felt, etc. It’s just really fun. Also, I love playing and competing so for me, it’s the most fun thing I can do. I guess the least favorite part is when you fall into issues with bad sleep patterns. It’s always a challenge to fight fatigue and exhaustion. But over the years, I’ve found certain ways to deal with that. I minimize things like drinking alcohol, try to always get eight hours of sleep, even if it means sacrific-ing going for breakfast or going to the gym. If there is a spa at the hotel, I’ll usually start my day in the sauna or steam room. �at always re-energizes me.

CP: Your four largest career scores have all come with the past year and a few months. You’ve had by far the two largest years of your career in 2019 and already in 2020. What do you attribute your recent success to? Have you made any changes in training, lifestyle, approach to the game?

“WINNING MONEY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. CRAVING EXTERNAL VALIDATION CAN BE A SLIPPERY SLOPE IF THAT IS WHAT YOU’RE FOCUSED ON.”

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TA: I think the biggest thing is just putting in work away from the tables. Trying to improve and get better takes a lot of effort behind the scenes. Playing is the fun part and that’s what I try to tell myself. To enjoy the game once you’re playing because the tedious and strenu-ous parts are sitting for many hours by yourself trying to improve your understanding of the game.

CP: So you were in Sochi and playing the last few events of the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller series there while the poker world started to shut down due to the pandemic. Can you talk about the atmosphere there? Was it hard to know the best course of action, in regards to continuing to play or not?

TA: To be honest, in Sochi, we were in a bit of a bubble. �e tournament venue was in a pretty isolated area. �ere was definitely lots of talk about COVID at the tables, people were being careful with how much they’d touch the chips and also people were sanitizing and washing hands like crazy.

CP: You recently took to social media to offer some complimentary poker coaching to Twitter followers who were self-isolating during the pandemic. How did you come up with that idea?

TA: I just thought it’d be a nice way to give back a little back to the poker community. Even just a small gesture like giving up some of my time. �e idea actually was a bit inspired through my friend Sam Greenwood who posted on Twitter that he was willing to answer any poker questions people had. I thought that was kind of cool so that’s what gave me the idea.

CP: Would you say that you are a better player today than ever before?

TA: I mean, you should always be improving, in theo-ry. I am sure I will look back at how I play now in a year from now and see a bunch of holes in my game. �at’s the great thing about poker, there is always so much to learn. So to answer the question, yes I think I am the best I’ve

ever been at this given moment, but I feel obligated that that is the norm.

CP: Can you share your thoughts on winning back-to-back Super High Roller Bowl events? Where would that accomplishment rank, for you, in your list of poker achievements?

TA: Yeah, for me that was probably the pinnacle of my poker accomplishments. It is always amazing to win a poker tournament, but clearly winning back to back SHRB events was something special. I am sure I will appreciate it even more in the future when I look back. Right now, I am just kind of riding the wave.

CP: You are now sitting inside the top 10 in the 2020 Card Player Player of the Year race. Would winning an award like a POY, that seeks to compare players based on their performance throughout a year as opposed to any single event, be meaningful to you? Where do you fall on the spectrum between players who care very much about accolades, and those who are just in it to win money?

TA: Winning money is the most important thing. Craving external validation can be a slippery slope if that is what you’re focused on. Of course, winning things like POY is nice and I would be pleased to win. I do take a look at the rankings systems from time to time.

CP: Do you envision poker being your only career? If it weren’t, what else would you be interested in pursuing?

TA: Definitely something in sports. Something like sports psychology has always been interesting to me, it clearly has many overlaps with poker.

CP: Do you have any other goals, perhaps outside of poker, that you are shooting for in the next few years?

TA: Just to remain consistent. Staying healthy physi-cally and mentally are always top priorities.

CP: What are your goals as a player in the next few years?

TA: It sounds boring but it’s just to keep showing up and getting better. It’s all about the journey. �

Adams’ incredible run didn’t just get going in 2020. He made a total of 13 final tables in 2019, winning four titles and cashing for nearly $6.3 million along the way. Adams now has more than $24.4 mil-lion in lifetime live tourna-ment earnings, which puts him in 20th place on poker’s all-time money list.



Strategies, ANALYSIS & Commentary

� e current coronavirus crisis has reminded me of an important concept. It is one that I have written about and talked about for nearly 50 years.

It begins with a story. I had a friend, Howie B, who was the best stud player in several games on the upper east side of New York during the 1970’s. He had played with Stu Unger and Eric Drache when they were still on the East Coast. We called him Howie the Horse both because of his size and his habit of going out to Aqueduct or Belmont race track each day.

He usually lost whatever he had won the night before. In fact, he occasionally lost more than he had won the night before, and came back in debt. For a while, it didn’t matter. Every day he’d lose at the track, but every night he’d win at the poker game.

But over time, the games got tougher. Some of the really horrendous players went broke or got tired of losing and quit. � eir places were taken by guys who played reasonably well. Some of the other weak players got better.

Finally, the inevitable happened. � e Horse went on a losing streak at poker. And things at the track didn’t get any better. He got an afternoon job tending bar at one of the local joints. � is served the dual purposes of providing a little cash and keeping him away from the track.

One afternoon, I stopped in for a few beers. I gave him a lecture about money management and playing only when you have the best of it. (To this day, I continue to give similar lectures to talented games-players who are periodi-cally broke.)

He said, “When I used to win every night, I thought those games were a candy store. Now I realize, the candy store isn’t always open.”

I laughed, had a few more beers and left. On the way home, it dawned on me that he had made a really profound comment on gambling, or perhaps even life in general. It is crucial to realize that the candy store isn’t always open!

What do I mean? I mean that there are times when you get into a very good situation. When that happens, make your money and enjoy some of it. But don’t make the mis-take of thinking you can blow it all because the situation will never end.

Let me give you some examples of times the candy store was open for me:

• When Atlantic City casinos fi rst went into operation, they dealt blackjack with early surrender counters that had a huge edge. On top of that, there were some very inexpe-rienced dealers, whose mistakes in the player’s favor were seldom corrected.

• When Los Angeles poker clubs won their lawsuit and started dealing a variety of games, not just draw poker, and when Atlantic City put in poker, ‘Candy Stores’ opened up.

• When I fi rst began to bet on sports, local bookmak-ers had radically diff erent lines in diff erent cities. � e 49ers might be favored in San Francisco while their opponent, the Giants, were favored in New York.

• Sites like Full Tilt, Doyle’s Room, or Ultimate Bet were booming and soft before Black Friday.

I could go on and on with examples of gambling Candy

Stores, but let’s look at times in the fi nancial arenas when this concept applied:

• � e fi rst option traders to apply the Black-Sholes model on the American Stock Exchange had a temporary ‘Candy Store.’

• From about 1990 to 2006 buying real estate was a ‘Candy Store.’ Suddenly the game of musical chairs ended, and those holding houses or condos were in big trouble.

� is happens even in personal situations. � e fi rst month of many relationships are full of wine and roses. � ings start to go sour, and it may end a few months (or years) later when the miserable couple splits. � e recent fi lm Marriage Storyportrays this well.

Prior to Covid-19, live poker and poker tournaments had been booming again. � e games may not have been as great as they were after Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker main event, but until recently the poker ‘Candy Store’ was open. Likewise, business was great for bars, res-taurants, casinos, airlines, cruise ships, etc. Not anymore. � ose Candy Stores are closed. Now online gaming, espe-cially poker, is fl ourishing as inexperienced players, trapped in their homes with nothing to do, start to play. Win their money while it’s there and buy stock in online poker if you can.

� e lesson to be learned is that if you fi nd a great situ-ation and start making a fortune, don’t blow it on casino gambling, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Everything gets tougher. Big losers will quit or go broke. � e average player will become more knowledgeable and more skillful. And no one ever knows what idiocy the government will perpetrate next.

If you catch yourself thinking, “I’m a great player, a big winner and things are so good that it doesn’t matter what I do with my winnings. I can always win more,” remember that the ‘Candy Store’ won’t always be open.

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 35 years. With two WSOP bracelets and few million in tourna-ment cashes, he is easing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his time to poker.

He can be found at some major tournaments and playing in cash games in Vegas. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A in New York City -The Library near Houston and Doc Holliday’s on 9th St. are his favorites.

2020: THE CANDY STORE ISN’T ALWAYS OPENBy Steve Zolotow

“When I used to win every night, I thought those games were a candy store. Now I realize, the candy store isn’t always open.”

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If you do not particularly enjoy your day job or are strug-gling in these difficult times due to the COVID-19 virus, you may have considered looking into poker as a way to make a little money on the side, or perhaps even as a way to gain some financial freedom. Every time I host a Q&A webinar on PokerCoaching.com, I find myself answering the classic question: “When should I become a professional poker player?”

As with most questions related to poker, the answer is, “It depends.”

Let’s assume you play $2-$5 no-limit hold’em at a local card room (I realize you may be forced to play online at the moment due to the virus, but this example still applies), which is about the stakes most people play who ask this ques-tion. $2-$5 is the largest game that runs on a regular basis in most local card rooms and most players who can beat this game feel like they are decently good at poker.

Let’s assume you make $50 per hour. When I played $5-$10 at Bellagio eight years ago, over the course of a year playing about 50 hours each week, I made around $100 per hour. Ten big blinds per hour is a solid win rate that most excellent players can achieve as long as the games are decently soft and the rake is not too high. So, if you play 40 hours per week, you will make around $8,000 per month at $2-$5, which sounds great, at least initially.

�ere are a few problems with this nice $96,000 per year salary. First, few people actually want to play 40 hours per week. I found myself constantly wanting to take days off or cut sessions short because I simply did not enjoy sitting at the table for that many hours. Many players feel a desire to take time off either when they are winning or losing. Because of this, you will probably only be able to average 30 hours per week. You are now looking at $72,000 salary.

Next, you have to pay taxes. Assuming you pay 20 per-cent or so, you will actually bring home $57,600, which still isn’t too shabby. You will probably need to buy health insurance, which will cost around $250 per month, reducing your disposable income to $54,600 each year. While this doesn’t sound too bad, you also need to set aside money for retirement, which will set you back around $10,000 per year, though you will eventually get that back at some point. �is will leave you with about $45,000 per year to live on while also trying to grow your bankroll.

In my opinion, it is short-sighted to try to become a pro-fessional poker player without at least a year’s worth of living expenses set aside and a nice bankroll, at least 5,000 big blinds for no-limit hold’em cash games, or 100 buy-ins for tournaments. So, if you spend $3,000 each month on routine expenses, you need at least $60,000 before even considering becoming a $2-$5 pro. I know this sounds like a lot, but if you want to be safe, especially since you are not sure if you have the required skills to be a pro, it is the prudent decision.

�ere are numerous factors that should influence your decision to become a professional player. If you have a family,

your expenses will be much more than a single person, and the expenses will prob-ably increase as time goes forward, especially if you have young children. You will also find it hard to jus-tify putting in numerous hours at the table while you are missing your kids grow up. �is will often result in playing during non-peak hours, which will cut your win rate.

If you currently have a “normal” job that pays well, you will also have a tough time justifying the move to poker. If you make $40 per hour at your job, which provides a nice, secure paycheck, there is really no reason to rely on poker, even if your actual hourly rate may be slightly

higher. �ere is a lot of value in having no variance to your monthly income, even if it is not exciting and you have to report to a boss you may not especially like.

One thing most players don’t consider when going pro is that you may not be as good as you think you are. If you do not have a long track record of winning, you should not even consider quitting your job. I estimate that you need at least a 500-hour sample in the game you plan on playing before attempting to go pro. �ese 500 hours will also have let you grind up an adequate bankroll for the game. Ideally, this trial period will let you know if you enjoy playing poker and also roughly what your win rate is. I also suggest you diligently study my in-depth book, Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em.

You may find you love poker as a hobby, but not as a job. Before actually quitting your job, take some vacation time away from your job and play poker as you would if you were a professional. �is will give you a sense of what it feels like to play poker every day. Compared to playing recreationally, playing poker professionally requires a drastically different

SHOULD YOU GO PRO?By Jonathan Little

“In my opinion, it is short-sighted to try to become

a professional poker player without at least a year’s worth of living

expenses set aside and a nice bankroll of at least

5,000 big blinds for no-limit hold’em cash games or 100 buy-ins for tournaments.”

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TRUE TALES FROM A HOLLYWOOD POKER HUSTLER: MATT DAMON VS MIKE MCDERMOTT, AND ROUNDERS CHEATING MOVES REVEALEDBy Houston Curtis

mindset. You may have noticed that I did not mention becom-

ing a professional tournament player. � is is because it is quite diffi cult to put in enough time at the table to give you a steady sizable return. Also, small-stakes tournaments in most local casinos are only barely profi table due to poor structures and high rake.

For example, if you can play a $200 buy-in + $30 rake tournament at your casino every day that has a relatively fast structure, you may win something like $50 per game. If each tournament takes four hours on average, you will win $5 per hour ($50 per game – $30 rake). Even if your tournament is incredibly soft, you may win at the rate of $20 per hour, which is about as much as a great player will win at $1-$2 cash games.

Putting in four hours per day playing a tournament with a win rate of $20 per hour will not make you rich. Since most casinos don’t have daily $500 buy-in or larger tournaments, I suggest you devote your time to cash games when you are

initially considering going pro. Playing tournaments only becomes a reasonable idea when the buy-ins become very large, assuming the fi elds remain soft, because then, you can expect to have a high hourly rate.

In the end, if someone hates their 9-to-5 job and wants to play poker, they are probably going to give it a try. Do your best to make sure the decision is the correct one because if you’re wrong, you may squander a lot of time and a lot of money. If you decide to make the leap, let me know on Twitter @JonathanLittle. Good luck! �

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $6 million in tournament winnings. Each week, he posts an educational blog and podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com, where you can get a FREE poker training video that details five things you must master if you want to win

at tournament poker. You can also sign up for his FREE Excelling at No Limit Hold’em webinars at HoldemBook.com/signup.

We all know it, we all love it. � e 1998 fi lm Rounders, directed by John Dahl, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, produced by Joel Stillerman and Ted Demme, and of course, starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton, has become a staple for poker players everywhere.

How many times have you been walking through a poker room, or hang-ing out at your local Wednesday night home game when someone shouts one of the following lines? “Kid’s got alligator blood,” or how about “Don’t splash di pot,” “I just got comped at the noodle bar,” “Give me three stacks of high soci-ety,” or the two-word phrase that gets spun more often than a Lady Gaga tune in West Hollywood on a Saturday night, “Very a-gress-ive.”

And of course, let’s not forget the fi lm’s famous opening line, “If you can’t spot the sucker in your fi rst half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.”

Rounders seems to hold a very special place in the heart of today’s poker players, (myself included) and has undoubtedly become an important part of poker history. For years I have always been baffl ed at how often Hollywood would get it wrong when trying to portray poker on the big screen. � en, here comes a fi lm that gets it right on so many levels. One could arguably credit Rounders alongside Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP win and the WPT ’s revolutionary hole card cam as one of the most important contributors to the poker boom of the early 2000’s.

No, it wasn’t a box offi ce sensation by any stretch of the imagination, but like many cult classics, Roundersis a fi lm that has continuously found its way into the hearts and minds of every new poker playing gen-eration since its inception. From McDermott’s fi ctional clash with Johnny Chan, to the real-life 1998 main event where Damon was poeti-cally thwarted by Doyle Brunson with K-K against A-A, to poker great Daniel Negreanu demanding in a tweet that Rounders 2 be produced! It’s as if the fi lm has become a rite of passage for all those who set out to take the game seriously.

Negreanu, is of course correct. � ere truly is a fever pitch in the poker community for a Rounderssequel. If such a fi lm escapes turn-around and actually gets made, it may never hold the sentimental place in our hearts like the original, but

let’s face it… we would all go see it! One thing I’ve noticed however, is that while so many poker

enthusiasts have memorized the fi lm damn near line by line— there are at least two classic scenes chock full of beautiful dialog that every poker fan can recite. Yet, most I’ve come across have no clue as to the meaning behind the words. � e scenes I’m referring to include the insider cheating terminology that is narrated by Damon as he and Norton’s characters (Mike McD and Worm) hustle an elitist frat house poker game. � e other scene with insider cheating terminology whittled throughout

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the dialogue occurs when Worm gets busted for dirty dealing in a room full of off-duty cops.

After today, the mystery surrounding these cheating terms will be solved. And furthermore, I have created a special video supplement that demonstrates these classic, hard-to-spot cheat-ing moves, but will also provide some crucial, rarely-shared tips that will teach you what to look out for so you can avoid hav-ing such tactics used against you in your own game.

Sounds fun right? But before we dive into that, I would love to share a quick excerpt from my book Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist that tells of the time Matt Damon played in my private game alongside Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire.------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Matt was every bit as nice as you’d think he would be. What impressed me most was the fact that when Ben introduced us, Matt had already been given the lowdown by Ben on everyone at the table. He said, “Oh yeah . . . you’re the Backyard Wrestling guy Ben was telling me about.”

As nice a guy as Matt was, he certainly wasn’t the poker player he portrayed on the big screen in Rounders. I took him for about �fty grand that night, to which A�eck had to write the check because Matt didn’t have enough on him to cover it. We invited him to come back any time, but truth be told, that was the only time Damon ever played in the big game. He just didn’t have the gamble in him like Ben or the rest of us. He wasn’t interested.]------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another thing that stuck in my mind the night Matt joined us for the game was the fact that the minimum buy in was $20,000 higher than that of his Rounders on-screen persona during the scene where he rolled into Teddy KGB’s place and mustered up the courage to risk his entire bankroll of 30 grand

(three stacks of high society.) �at being said, who do you think has a better stomach for huge losses in a poker game, Mike McD or Matt Damon?

Let’s just say, Mr. Damon wouldn’t be calling up Knish after he lost in our game and asking him if he could drive the truck! Matt was all smiles and seemed to enjoy busting the chops of his good buddy and fellow Oscar-winning cohort Affleck as Ben reluctantly wrote me a check at the end of the night to cover Matt’s loss.

When the story about my poker game originally broke in the press and was centered around the tell-all that became Molly’s Game, you saw Matt Damon’s name and picture fea-tured on almost every headline alongside Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Even when I was interviewed by the media and told them Damon wasn’t a regular in the game, they chose to ignore that fact, amongst several others. I guess sometimes the media has selective hearing.

I feel as if there’s a large portion of the poker community suffering from its own form of “selective hearing” when it comes to the harsh reality of card cheating. �e younger generation of poker players are great at spotting mathemati-cal improbabilities, like those that led to busting recent poker cheat Mike Postle.

But what if we take the analyzation of hand history out of the equation? Does old school sleight-of-hand card manipula-tion still exist in the modern poker world? You bet it does. And even though today we have everything from electronic shuf-fling machines to very strict shuffling procedures, fresh deck procedures along with scrambling and cut card enforcement, players still need to arm themselves with knowledge in terms of how to spot when the cards are being manipulated by a dealer

NOTE: WINNING PERCENTAGES DO NOT INCLUDE TIES. ODDS PROVIDED BY CARDPLAYER.COM/POKER-TOOLS/ODDS-CALCULATOR/TEXAS-HOLDEM

AnalysisTOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP Tony Tran came into the fi nal table of the 2020 World Poker Tour Rolling � under main event as the shortest stack with six players remain-ing. Tran was one of two players at the fi nal table with a WPT title under their belt, having taken down the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble back in 2018. � e other WPT champion at the table was Tran’s opponent in this hand: Erkut Yilmaz, the defending champion of this very event and the winner of the 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open. In a battle of the blinds, Tran raised the K-3 off suit from the small blind and Yilmaz made the call with his dominating K-J off suit. Both players made top pair on the fl op. Tran checked and Yilmaz elected to check behind. � e turn brought a second diamond on board and Tran elected to make a smallish bet of 45,000 into the pot of 140,000. Yilmaz made the call and the Q� completed the board. Tran checked to Yilmaz, who now felt comfortable fi ring out a healthy value bet of 180,000 into the 230,000 pot. Tran underrepresented his top pair by checking on the fl op, which could have helped tip this decision toward a call. Instead, he managed to make the big laydown of top pair, preserving roughly a quarter of his stack with the disciplined fold. Tran ended up keep-ing his stack above 35 big blinds as a result.

K

K

3

3

K

K

J

J

K

K

7

7

2

2

Q

Q

4

4

Tran checked. Yilmaz checked.

Tran bet 45,000. Yilmaz called.

Tran checked. Yilmaz bet 180,000. Tran folded.

With six players remaining and blinds of 10,000-20,000 with a big blind ante of 20,000, Tony Tran raised to 60,000 from the small blind. Erkut

Yilmaz called from the big blind.

2020 WPT Rolling Thunder$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event

ANALYSIS

Tony Tran810,000 chips

Erkut Yilmaz2,340,000 chips

Winning PercentageBefore Flop: 23.0%

After Flop: 11.0%After Turn: 7.0%

Winning PercentageBefore Flop: 69.0%After Flop: 83.0%After Turn: 93.0%

FLOP

PREFLOP

TURN

RIVE

R

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who is on the take. And stepping outside the casino, it becomes even more

important for those of you playing in high-stakes home games where the deal is still being passed around the table or where the rules of how a fixed dealer runs the game aren’t as strin-gently enforced as they would be in a casino.

A great place to start learning what to look out for is to go back to Rounders to grasp a better true understanding of what the cheating terminology referenced in the movie really meant, and what to look out for in terms of spotting it.

In the scene where Damon and Norton take on the frat boys, there are two sections. Section one, lists a series of collu-sion techniques including: Signaling, Trapping, and Chip Placing.

It is the second section that I want to give a primary focus on in today’s column. �e second section of the scene lists a series of cheating techniques that include the following: Discard Culls, Pickup Culls, Overhand Run Ups, and The Double Duke.

Discard and Pickup Culls: �is is a sleight-of-hand method mechanics use to locate desired cards that will later be stacked into a hand giving him or someone on his team an advantage. �e mechanic learns how to spot cards as they are being dis-carded into the muck and as they’re being picked up to be dealt in the next hand. He then manipulates the culled cards during what seems like a normal act of gathering and shuffling.

The Discard Cull: In home games this move would often be accomplished during a dealer’s choice game, where the deal is being passed around the table. Many home games have a loose, social atmosphere where drinking and joking are enough of a distraction for a player who has already folded to literally rummage through the discards as they’re being tossed into the muck. �e discard cull would usually happen when the cheater drops out of the hand prior to his deal. �en, once the cards are fully scooped up and in his full control, he knows exactly where the culled cards are located and can now manipulate them to the bottom of the deck or in a stacking procedure that will give him or his partner the winning hand.

The Pickup Cull: Pickup Culls occur during the act of clearing the table after a showdown. Pickup Culling is often considered more deceptive than Discard Culls since there is no rabbit hunting involved. A masterful mechanic can cull cards while making it seem as if he’s simply scooping up the muck. Remember, just having the simple knowledge of a few cards and where they are placed already gives the cheat an edge. Anything beyond that, simply increases that edge and ultimately transforms from having an advantage, to flat out controlling the outcome of a hand based on the cards that were

culled, then stacked and dealt back into play.The Overhand Run Up: At one time, this move was prob-

ably one of the most-used forms of cheating and is one of the moves used for stacking the deck in ones favor. In the video, I demonstrate this method which looks like an ordinary overhand shuffle. While overhand shuffles have been eliminated from casino card rooms, they are still very popular amongst most all home games. �e basic principle: Let’s say a pair of Aces is culled to the top of the deck. “�e cheat would then begin to seemingly shuffle the deck in an overhand fashion. But in reality, the cheat is “running up cards” to place the proper number of cards in between each ace so he can then deal the cards sending the aces to whomever he wants.

I demonstrated this old sleight-of-hand maneuver on this week’s supplemental video in the link below. One way to avoid having to deal with an overhand run up is to begin implementing casino-style dealing procedures in your game. It won’t stop a master cheat from doing the same thing during a riffle shuffle, but it will stop many cheats who only know how to stack cards using an overhand run up.

The Double Duke: Sometimes a cheat will wait all night to execute one move, and one move only. �e famed, Double Duke! A Double Duke is simply the act of dealing the mark a huge hand that will ultimately get beat by a slightly bigger hand which would be dealt to the cheats partner. �ere are several ways a cheat can prepare the deck for a Double Duke, including the use of culling and doing overhand run ups! Ever wonder if that time you lost your entire stack at the end of the night to a set over set was more than just a bad beat? If you ever have such suspicions, keep an eye on who dealt the hand and who won the big pot. �is might prove valuable information that gets you one step closer to finding out if you’re up against two or more cheaters who are working together.

As someone who used to work on the darker side of the card manipulation equation, one thing I tell my students and clients is this: A masterful cheat can manipulate a deck so effortlessly that even another master cheat would have trouble seeing the manipulation happen right before his eyes. �erefore, it’s always good to know as much as possible about who and where you are playing, especially when not playing in a licensed casino. �e last thing you want is for Worm to show up and clean you out of all your hard-earned cash!

Be sure to watch the supplement video here https://youtu.be/PfufDyrtxIU for a visual demonstration of some of the things we’ve covered today, (including the two scenes

Does old school sleight of hand card manipulation still exist in the modern poker world? You bet it does. And even though today we have everything from electronic shuffling machines to very strict shuffling procedures, fresh deck procedures along with scrambling and cut card enforcement, players still need to arm themselves with knowledge in terms of how to spot when the cards are being manipulated by a dealer who is on the take.

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from Rounders.) � e best way to protect yourself from getting cheated in

a poker game is to learn how to execute the moves that a master mechanic would be using in the fi rst place. If your game is your livelihood, you might want to consider famil-iarizing yourself with a deeper understanding of these meth-ods by checking out some of my free tutorials at KardSharp.com or subscribing to my YouTube channel. �

Houston Curtis, founder of KardSharp.com and author of Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist has lived a successful double life as both a producer and card mechanic for nearly 30 years. His credits include executive producing gambling related TV shows such as The Ultimate Blackjack Tour

on CBS, The Aruba Poker Classic on GSN, and pioneering the poker instructional DVD genre with titles featuring poker champion Phil Hellmuth. Barred for life from Las Vegas Golden Nugget for “excessive winning” at blackjack, Houston is one of the world’s most successful card mechanics and sleight-of-hand artists of the modern era. Curtis, who rarely plays in tournaments, won a 2004 Legends of Poker no-limit hold’em championship event besting Scotty Nguyen heads-up at the final table before going on to co-found the elite Hollywood poker ring that inspired Aaron Sorkin’s Academy Award-nominated film Molly’s Game. Curtis resides in Phoenix, Arizona where in addition to running a production company and independent record label, he is also a private gaming/casino protection consultant to clients across the globe seeking insight into master level card cheating tactics via advanced sleight-of-hand technique. To reach Houston for a speaking engagement, consulting or production services send email to [email protected]

PATIENCE VS. AGGRESSIONBy Greg Raymer

I received this email recently, and thought this was a topic that many readers would relate to.

Hi Greg,I just � nished your book. I liked it! Well written. I liked the

examples provided to clarify/emphasize your point… is it better to be patient or to be aggressive to make it deep into a tourna-ment? Which strategy will take your further?

� anks, John

I’m pleased you liked my book, and thank you for the kind words. Now to dig into your question. My answer, in its simplest form, is you are asking the wrong question.

You pose the question as if we are talking about a greyscale, with pure white at one end, pure black at the other, and shades of grey in-between. For your question, it presupposes that being more aggressive means being less patient, and vice versa. It is kind of like asking me if I like my � ai curry to be creamier, or spicier? You can change one without aff ecting the other. In poker, you can be both more patient and more aggressive, at the same time.

� e real trick is fi guring out when it is a good time to be more patient, in the sense of folding the current hand and waiting for something better. And fi guring out when it is a good time to play the hand you are dealt, and take some


AnalysisTOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP � is hand features a clash between the two largest stacks at the fi nal table. Erkut Yilmaz picked up J-8 suited in late position and raised. Chip leader Kevin Rabichow defended his big blind with A-6 off suit. � e fl op brought a paired board of 4-2-2 rainbow. Rabichow check-called with his ace high, likely assum-ing that his hand just has too much showdown value versus what should be a near-automatic continuation bet from Yilmaz. � e turn brought the 9� to make a backdoor fl ush draw possible. Rabichow checked and Yilmaz checked behind. � e 6� on the river paired Rabichow. Should he value bet, trying to extract chips from A-K highs or perhaps 4-X? Or does his hand work better as a bluff catcher? In this particular instance, Yilmaz had indeed arrived at the river without much in the way of showdown value. As a result, he fi red out a bluff of 145,000 into the 170,000 pot when Rabichow ultimately checked to him. Rabichow followed through and made the call to win the pot, increasing his lead while taking a chunk out of the most accomplished opponent at the table in Yilmaz, a two-time WPT champion and WPT Player of the Year award winner from season 17.

J

J

8

8

A

A

6

6

4

4

2

2

2

2

6

6

9

9

Rabichow checked. Yilmaz bet 25,000. Rabichow called.

Rabichow checked. Yilmaz checked.

Rabichow checked. Yilmaz bet 145,000. Rabichow called.

With six players remaining and blinds of 10,000 - 20,000 and a big blind ante of 20,000, Erkut Yilmaz raised to 45,000 from the cutoff . Kevin

Rabichow called from the big blind.

ANALYSIS

Erkut Yilmaz2,500,000 chips

Kevin Rabichow2,600,000 chips




FLOP

PREFLOP

TURN

RIVE

R


022_S&A.indd 27 5/14/20 2:16 PM




BADUGI: A DISCUSSION ON TWO-CARD DRAWSBy Kevin Haney

risk in doing so. Overall, whenever you choose to play a hand, it is

almost always better to play the hand aggressively. One of my favorite training exercises I teach my students is the “No-Call” game. When doing this, you enter a low buy-in game, preferably a tournament, and the rule for this train-ing exercise is you are never allowed to call. Even though there are many situations where calling is the better choice, for training purposes, you never call. � e only exception is when raising is not an option. For example, if you are heads-up and the opponent goes all-in, you are allowed to call, since raising is not an option. However, if there is a third player in the pot who also has more chips than the all-in player, raising is an option, and you must raise or fold.

� is exercise teaches the student to be more aggressive, as they no longer have the passive option of calling. � ey can still check, fold, bet or raise. � ey just can’t call. Most players are surprised at the numerous times they normally would have called, now raise instead, and take down the pot immediately.

Another big factor in this exercise is that many players are much too loose, and should be playing fewer hands. � is exercise forces them to fold all those mediocre and weak hands. And if not, then they must raise with those hands, and try to bluff with them!

As for patience, all the best players have it in abundance.

� ose who don’t are not really as good as their reputation would suggest. � e only exceptions I can think of are some great short-handed players who play way too many hands in a full-ring game, but know they do so. � eir solution is to only play in short-handed games. In truth, they ought to be able to become good players at a full table, but for some reason don’t have it in them to fold so often.

For the rest of us, we do need to learn to wait and only play starting hands that are going to be +EV (positive expected value) for us to play. Another factor here is that this is not a fi xed and rigid range of hands. You can correctly play many more hands from late position than early posi-tion. You can play many more hands in certain situations, such as being a big stack near the bubble. Learn all you can to recognize all the +EV spots you are dealt, play most of those aggressively, and just fold all the rest. �

Greg Raymer is the 2004 WSOP world champion, winner of numerous major titles, and has more than $7 million in earnings. He recently authored “FossilMan’s Winning Tournament Strategies,” available from D&B Publishing, Amazon, and other retailers. He

is sponsored by Blue Shark Optics, YouStake, and ShareMyPair. To contact Greg please tweet at him using @FossilMan or go to www.FossilManPoker.com.

Poker games evolve over the years and Badugi is no exception. Back when it was originally introduced, Badugi was often played in a relatively straight forward fashion. Most players contesting the pot were in there with either pat badugis or tri hands attempting to com-plete a badugi. Two-card draws, like A� 2�, were pri-marily only played when stealing or defending blinds.

Inexperienced players may not have realized that making a badugi was as hard as it is and may have given more respect to river bets than they should have. They would often only call the river with a badugi and some-times even fold made, but bad badugis. It was relatively common to see the river check through even when both players held good three-card badugis!

Nowadays in an aggressive game you will hardly ever see the river check through when there are two relatively strong tris out such as A-2-4 and A-3-5. The A-2-4 will often bet for value if the A-3-5 hadn’t already done so. It is not uncommon to see call downs with A-5-6 or worse.

Many players now consider Badugi a race to the best three-card badugi and there is an increased prevalence of players entering the pot with two-card draws (D2s) such as A-2, A-3, 2-3, and A-4 from all positions. When a strong tri is obtained these players will get aggressive looking for max value and will continue searching for it on the river even without a Badugi.

Others are just addicted to the action and love the thrill of going uphill and putting some bad beats on

their opponents and these players will often call mul-tiple bets cold with their two-card draws.

Since we can often successfully value bet the river with premium tri hands the value of D2s has increased but as with any aspect of poker and life it’s best to not go too far overboard. In this issue we will analyze two-card draws, the good and the bad, and see if we can draw any conclusions.

Improvement ProbabilitiesWhen we start out with A� 2� 4� 6� and draw two

the chances of improving are as follows:Cumulative

Probability Probability

Badugi 10.0% 10.0%

A-2-3 9.1% 19.1%

A-2-4 8.2% 27.3%

A-2-5 7.3% 34.6%

A-2-6 6.4% 41.0%

A-2-7 5.5% 46.5%

A-2-8 4.6% 51.1%

As the chart above indicates this hand has a 51 per-cent chance to improve to an 8 tri or better with a 10 percent chance of making a Badugi, the median badugi made being an A-2-9-10. These are decent odds to improve, however 49 percent of the time you will still

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have nothing and three-card sevens and eights are quite mediocre. Over the course of two draws you will have an unimproved A-2 approximately 24 percent of the time and will be hard pressed to continue on the turn.

The A� 2� 4� 6� is one of the strongest two-card draws in that it does not block any of its own outs and also has a decent chance to block one of the low spades that our opponent may need. When our opponent requires a spade we hold significant blockers against them making a strong hand.

With a hand such as A� 2� 9� 10� (and drawing two) we block two of our own outs to make a badugi and do not block opponents from making their stron-gest hands. When blocking a few of our outs we will only make a badugi around 8.6 percent of the time on the first draw; a slight reduction but still noteworthy.

Now suppose on the first draw we improve to A� 2� 7� and are chasing a jack Badugi. Since we discarded two of the cards we need we may now only have five outs instead of seven which is a somewhat significant 29 percent reduction. And making a tri and then draw-ing one is the typical route you will take when making a badugi.

The other cards in our hand are not often considered by players. However, details such as this should be fac-tored into our decision making especially in the closer situations.

Sampling of Equities and Playability ConsiderationsA dealt Badugi is the two-card draw’s Achilles heel;

the following are “hot/cold” equities at the beginning of the hand against various pats:

A-2 (34%) vs. K-Q-J-10A-2 (24%) vs. J-10-9-8A-2 (16%) vs. 9-8-7-6A-2 (8%) vs.7-6-5-4

As bad as those equities are will actually fare even worse in actual game play as the two-card draws will struggle to realize their equity. While an initial dealt badugi is usually on the weaker side we still must improve early on the hand in order to remain in the pot. On the first draw when we don’t improve to at least a three-card eight or nine it is really an uphill battle with two draws to go:

A-2 (22%) vs. K-Q-J-10A-2 (15%) vs. J-10-9-8A-2 (9%) vs. 9-8-7-6A-2 (4%) vs. 7-6-5-4

A-2 is a sizeable underdog to mediocre tri hands and from a “hot/cold” perspective is also taking the worst of it against the worst three-card eight:

A-2 (41%) vs. 2-4-6A-2 (44%) vs. A-5-7A-2 (48%) vs. 8-7-6

Once again, we also must improve in order to realize our equity and while we will often make a good three-card hand we should not overrate our implied odds. Your opponent drawing one card has around a 20 percent chance of hit-


AnalysisTOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP In this hand, Tony Tran won a sizable pot with a riv-ered straight. � e clash started with chip leader Kevin Rabichow raising with the lowly 10-7 off suit from the button. While his hand certainly leaves something to be desired, his dominant position at the table and on the leaderboard were surely compelling factors in his decision to raise. Rabichow had the benefi t of know-ing that all of the other players outside of the blinds had already passed on their hands, leaving only him-self and the two shortest stacks at the table in Jake Schwartz (23.4 big blinds) and Tony Tran (31 big blinds). While neither of the blinds was in total des-peration mode, both should have been very wary of tangling with the chip leader who had them covered multiple times over. With that in mind, Rabichow can expect tighter defending ranges from them and therefore more folds prefl op, and likely more cautious play post-fl op. Schwartz did get out of the way but Tran defended the big blind and fl opped an open-ended straight draw. He did indeed play it carefully, electing to just check-call the fl op with his draw. Rabichow fl opped top pair and continuation bet, but decided to check behind on the turn after his fl op bet was called. Tran made his straight on the river and led out for a healthy bet of 225,000 into the pot of 240,000. � e large sizing didn’t deter Rabichow, who likely fi gured that Tran could utilize a similar bet when bluffi ng. Rabichow made the call with second pair only to be shown Tran’s straight. Tran surpassed 1.1 million in chips after the hand while eating into Rabichow’s lead on the fi eld.

10

10

7

7

J

J

8

8

10

10

9

9

3

3

Q

Q

5

5

Tran checked. Rabichow bet 45,000. Tran called.

Tran checked. Rabichow checked.

Tran bet 225,000. Rabichow called.

With six players remaining and blinds of 15,000 - 25,000 with a big blind ante of 25,000, Kevin Rabichow raised to 55,000 from the button.

Tony Tran called from the big blind.

ANALYSIS


Tony Tran775,000 chips




FLOP

PREFLOP

TURN

RIVE

R


022_S&A.indd 29 5/14/20 2:16 PM

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ting a badugi of which the median is an eight or a nine. When you hold an A-2, you have around a 10 percent chance to hit a badugi of which the median is around a 10-9. � us, he’s twice as likely to improve to a badugi and when he does it will be stronger on average. In any form of poker, your opponent is in a commanding position when he has both the best hand and best draw.

Two card draws are also quite mediocre in multi-way pots. � e value of drawing to a good three card is greatly diminished when it’s possible someone already has a badugi or when you are up against two one card draws because the odds of at least one of them making a Badugi by the end is around 75 percent.

As previously discussed, when playing D2s the two dis-cards can have a big impact on the overall strength of your hand. For example, 2� 3� 4� 6� is a better holding than A� 2� 9� 10� because if your opponent requires a spade you have blockers against his hand while at the same time you are not blocking cards that you may need to win the pot. Below are a few sample equities that demonstrate the blocker eff ect:

Villain’s Holdings

3� 5� 7� J� 10� 9� 3� 3� 5� 7�

2� 3� 4� 6� 48% 28% 46%

A� 2� 9� 10� 41% 22% 46%

When up against a three-card Badugi without a spade or a Badugi we fare much better with a hand such as 2� 3� 4� 6�. � e times our opponent has a tri with a spade both hands are approximately equal, however, when holding three low spades it is more likely villain does not have one.

Concluding ThoughtsTwo-card draws do not fare that well at all versus pat hands

or in multi-way pots thus we should not get in the habit of play-ing them from early position or cold-calling a three-bet which is a huge leak. Most often these holdings should be reserved as opens from late position or when defending the big blind preferably against a single opponent.

However, given the good pot odds we are getting we can usually defend the big blind against a raise and a call especially against loose players who will often be drawing two themselves. � at said one situation where we should tend to muck is when we are specifi cally up against an early position open followed by another call. Here we are often up against a pat and a D1 or at the very minimum two solid D1s. If the situation seems close the other two cards in your hand can act as a tiebreaker.

Since the two discards impact the value of your holding it would be a mistake to compile your opening hand standards in such a way where you may open A-2 and A-3 from a par-ticular position but fold hands such as 2� 3� 4� 6� that are better than your average A-2 holding. In the next installment on Badugi we will present a set of suggested openings for all hand types. �

Kevin Haney is a former actuary of MetLife but left the corporate job to focus on his passions for poker and fitness. He is co-owner of Elite Fitness Club in Oceanport, NJ and is a certified personal trainer. With regards to poker he got his start way back in 2003 and particularly enjoys taking new players inter-

ested in mixed games under his wing and quickly making them proficient in all variants. If interested in learning more, playing mixed games online, or just saying hello he can be reached at [email protected].

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Schedules - major tournaments

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JUNE June 11-13 Summer Classic Coushatta Casino & Resort • Kinder, LA

JULY July 6-13 Summer Open Bay 101 • San Jose, CA

July 22-Aug. 3 Potomac Summer Poker Open MGM National Harbor • Oxon Hill, MD

July 23-26 Card Player Poker Tour Ocean’s Eleven Casino • Oceanside, CA

July 26 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament Lucky Chances • Colma, CA

AUGUST Aug. 9-16 Summer Poker Round-Up Wildhorse Resort & Casino • Pendleton, OR

Aug. 11-13 WSOP Circuit Global Casino Championship Harrah’s Casino • Cherokee, NC

Aug. 22 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament Lucky Chances • Colma, CA

SEPTEMBER Sept. 4-20 Commerce Hold’em Series Commerce Casino • Commerce, CA

Sept. 10-19 Card Player Poker Tour Card Player Cruises • Eastern Caribbean

Sept. 27 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament Lucky Chances • Colma, CA

Sept. 28-Oct. 20 Card Player Poker Tour Bicycle Casino • Bell Gardens, CA

NOVEMBER Nov. 6-16 Card Player Poker Tour Seneca Niagara Casino • Niagara Falls, NY

Nov. 6-22 L.A. Poker Open Commerce Casino • Commerce, CA

Nov. 13-23 Gold Rush Poker Series Lucky Chances • Colma, CA

FOR COMPLETE TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND LISTINGS, VISIT CARDPLAYER.COM

AO-Add On B-Bonus CP-Crazy Pineapple H.O.R.S.E.-Hold’em, Omaha Eight-or-Better, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better R.O.S.E.-Razz, Omaha Eight-or-Better, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better KO- Knock Out or Bounty LH-Limit

Hold’em MP-Mexican Poker NLH-No-Limit Hold’em O H/L-Omaha Eight-or-Better PLO-Pot-Limit Omaha RB-Rebuy SH/L-Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better SLH-Spread-Limit Hold’em

ARIZONA

TALKING STICK RESORT - SCOTTSDALEMONDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $1257:15 p.m. NLH, $170TUESDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $1257:15 p.m. NLH, $200WEDNESDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $1257:15 p.m. NLH, $170THURSDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $1257:15 p.m. NLH, $170FRIDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $1257:15 p.m. NLH, $200SATURDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $240SUNDAY 11:15 a.m. NLH, $160

CALIFORNIA

BAY 101 - SAN JOSE MONDAY

9:30 a.m. NLH, $130TUESDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $130WEDNESDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $150THURSDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $130FRIDAY 9:30 a.m. NLH, $150SATURDAY9:00 a.m. NLH, $250SUNDAY 9:00 a.m. NLH, $150

BICYCLE CASINO - BELL GARDENSMONDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $70 AO $20 KO $20 ($2K Guarantee)5:00 p.m. NLH, $75 ($2.5K Guarantee)TUESDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $20 ($2K Guarantee)5:00 p.m. NLH, $30 RB $10 AO $10 ($2.5K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $20 ($2K Guarantee)5:00 p.m. NLH, $65 AO $20

($2.5K Guarantee)THURSDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $20 ($2K Guarantee)5:00 p.m. NLH, $80 AO $20 KO $25 ($2.5K Guarantee)8:00 p.m. MP, $30 RB $10 AO $10 ($1.5K Guarantee)10:00 p.m. NLH, $60 RB $50 AO $40 KO $10 ($2K Guarantee)FRIDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $20 ($2K Guarantee)4:00 p.m. NLH, $40 AO $30 ($5K Guarantee)5:30 p.m. NLH, $65 AO $50 ($5K Guarantee)7:00 p.m. NLH, $90 AO $70 ($5K Guarantee)10:00 p.m. NLH, $60 RB $50 AO $40 KO $10 ($2K Guarantee)SATURDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $65 AO $50 ($20K Guarantee)2:00 p.m. NLH, $90 AO $70 ($20K Guarantee)4:00 p.m. NLH, $115 AO $90 ($20K Guarantee)

CARDPLAYER.COM 32

034_Schedules.indd 32 5/13/20 1:22 PM

Schedules


10:00 p.m. NLH, $60 RB $50 AO $40 KO $10 ($2K Guarantee)SUNDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $40 AO $30 ($10K Guarantee)1:30 p.m. NLH, $65 AO $50 ($10K Guarantee)3:00 p.m. NLH, $90 AO $70 ($10K Guarantee)

CHUMASH CASINO - SANTA YNEZMONDAY 10:15 a.m. NLH, $407:00 p.m. PLO, $0 AO $20TUESDAY 10:15 a.m. NLH, $407:00 p.m. NLH, $60WEDNESDAY 10:15 a.m. NLH, $407:00 p.m. NLH, $50THURSDAY 10:15 a.m. NLH, $50 KO $107:00 p.m. NLH, $40FRIDAY 10:15 a.m. NLH, $407:15 p.m. NLH, $150SATURDAY 1:15 p.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee)SUNDAY 1:15 p.m. NLH, $100 KO $25 ($3K Guarantee)

COMMERCE CASINO - COMMERCEMONDAY-THURSDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $65 ($2.5K Guarantee) 6:00 p.m. NLH, $65 ($3.5K Guarantee) FRIDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $65 ($2.5K Guarantee)6:00 p.m. NLH, $150 KO $50 ($5K Guarantee)SATURDAY1:00 p.m. NLH, $150 ($15K Guarantee)SUNDAY1:00 p.m. NLH, $65 RB $50 ($10K Guarantee)

GARDENS CASINO - HAWAIIAN GARDENSMONDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $30 RB $10 AO $10 ($8K Guarantee)6:45 p.m. NLH, $10 RB $10 AO $10 ($3K Guarantee)TUESDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 ($5K Guarantee)6:45 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee)6:45 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 ($5K Guarantee)9:30 p.m. NLH, $70 AO $20 ($1K Guarantee)THURSDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $40 ($4K Guarantee)6:45 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 KO $25 ($6K Guarantee)

9:30 p.m. NLH, $70 AO $20 ($1K Guarantee)FRIDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $90 ($4K Guarantee)6:45 p.m. NLH, $115 RB $50 ($30K Guarantee)SATURDAY 11:00 a.m. NLH, $50 RB $20 ($5K Guarantee)3:00 p.m. NLH, $100 RB $50 ($5K Guarantee)SUNDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $40 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee)3:00 p.m. NLH, $50 AO $40 ($3K Guarantee)

HUSTLER CASINO - GARDENAMONDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $100 AO $40 KO $25 ($2K Guarantee)TUESDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $80 RB $40 ($2K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $100 AO $40 KO $25 ($2K Guarantee)THURSDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $80 RB $40 ($2K Guarantee)FRIDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $80 RB $40 ($2K Guarantee)SATURDAY 3:00 p.m. NLH, $80 RB $40 ($2K Guarantee)

LUCKY CHANCES - COLMAMONDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $120 AO $10 ($3K 1st Place Guarantee)TUESDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $200 AO $10 ($4K 1st Place Guarantee)WEDNESDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $120 AO $10 ($3K 1st Place Guarantee)THURSDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $120 AO $10 ($3K 1st Place Guarantee) FRIDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $120 AO $10 ($3K 1st Place Guarantee)SATURDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $120 AO $10 ($3K 1st Place Guarantee)SUNDAY9:30 a.m. NLH, $250 AO $10 ($8K 1st Place Guarantee)

OAKS CARD CLUB - EMERYVILLEMONDAY6:15 p.m. NLH, $150WEDNESDAY6:15 p.m. NLH, $185SATURDAY11:00 a.m. NLH, $185SUNDAY

1:00 p.m. NLH, $235

OCEAN’S ELEVEN - OCEANSIDEMONDAY-THURSDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $55 AO $5 ($3K Guarantee)7:00 p.m. NLH, $55 AO $5 ($3K Guarantee)FRIDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $55 AO $5 ($3K Guarantee)6:00 p.m. NLH, $75 AO $5 ($5K Guarantee)SATURDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $230 AO $10 ($20K Guarantee)7:00 p.m. NLH, $55 AO $5 KO $20 ($3K Guarantee)SUNDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $90 AO $50 ($10K Guarantee)

CONNECTICUT

FOXWOODS - MASHANTUCKETMONDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $1006:00 p.m. NLH, $120TUESDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $1202:00 p.m NLH, $100 KO $256:00 p.m. NLH, $120 ($10K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $1002:00 p.m NLH, $120 KO $506:00 p.m. NLH, $120 ($15K Guarantee)THURSDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $120 KO $25FRIDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $1002:00 p.m NLH, $100 KO $256:00 p.m. NLH, $160 ($8K Guarantee)8:30 p.m NLH, $100SATURDAY9:00 a.m NLH, $6011:00 a.m NLH, $180 ($8K Guarantee)5:00 p.m. NLH, $140 ($5K Guarantee)8:30 p.m NLH, $120 KO $50SUNDAY9:00 a.m NLH, $6012:00 p.m. NLH, $1405:00 p.m. NLH, $230

MOHEGAN SUN - UNCASVILLEMONDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $85 KO $252:00 p.m NLH, $756:00 p.m NLH, $100TUESDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $752:00 p.m NLH, $85 KO $256:00 p.m. NLH, $120 ($10K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $752:00 p.m NLH, $85 KO $256:00 p.m. NLH, $100THURSDAY

CARDPLAYER.COM 3333


Schedules - Daily tournaments


10:00 a.m NLH, $752:00 p.m NLH, $85 KO $256:00 p.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee)FRIDAY11:00 a.m NLH, $752:00 p.m NLH, $1006:00 p.m NLH, $120SATURDAY11:00 a.m NLH, $1505:00 p.m NLH, $120SUNDAY11:00 a.m NLH, $200 KO $505:00 p.m. NLH, $120

FLORIDA

BESTBET - JACKSONVILLEMONDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $50 7:00 p.m. PLO H/L, $125 KO $25TUESDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $150 7:00 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25WEDNESDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $507:00 p.m. NLH, $100 THURSDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25 7:00 p.m. NLH, $50 FRIDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $1507:00 p.m. NLH, $240 KO $100 SATURDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $1557:00 p.m. NLH, $155 SUNDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $150 7:00 p.m. NLH, $50

PALM BEACH KENNEL CLUB - W. PALM BEACHMONDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $70 ($2.5K Guarantee) 6:30 p.m. NLH, $70 ($2K Guarantee)TUESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $70 6:30 p.m. NLH, $70WEDNESDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $100 ($3K Guarantee) 6:30 p.m. NLH, $100 ($2K Guarantee)THURSDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $100 ($2K Guarantee) 6:30 p.m. NLH, $100 ($1.5K Guarantee)FRIDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $120 ($10K Guarantee) 6:30 p.m. NLH, $40 AO $20 ($8K Guarantee)SATURDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee) 6:30 p.m. NLH, $40 AO $20 ($5K Guarantee)

ILLINOIS

RGC POKER (for locations see RGCPoker.com)DAILY 1:00 p.m. NLH, $405:00 p.m. NLH, $806:30 p.m. NLH, $40SATURDAY

2:00 p.m NLH, $180

LOUISIANA

COUSHATTA CASINO & RESORT - KINDER TUESDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $100THURSDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $100FRIDAY 7:00 p.m. NLH, $120SATURDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $200SUNDAY 12:00 p.m. NLH, $100

MARYLAND

LIVE! CASINO & HOTEL - HANOVERMONDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $120 KO $25 ($3K Guarantee) 7:15 p.m. NLH, $140 ($4K Guarantee)TUESDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $140 ($3K Guarantee) 7:15 p.m. NLH, $120 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $150 ($3K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $130 ($15K Guarantee) THURSDAY12:15 p.m. NLH, $160 KO $50 ($3K Guarantee) 7:15p.m. NLH, $150 ($5K Guarantee) FRIDAY 12:15 p.m. NLH, $200 ($5K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $140 ($5K Guarantee) SATURDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $100 ($10K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $130 SUNDAY3:15 p.m. NLH, $130 ($15K Guarantee)6:15 p.m. NLH, $130

MGM NATIONAL HARBOR - OXON HILLMONDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $235 ($10K Guarantee)TUESDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $240 ($10K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $120 ($5K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $200 KO $50THURSDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $150 KO $25 ($5K Guarantee)7:15 p.m. NLH, $125 ($5K Guarantee)SUNDAY11:15 a.m. NLH, $350 KO $100 ($20K Guarantee)

MICHIGAN

FIREKEEPERS CASINO - BATTLE CREEKMONDAY-WEDNESDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $406:30 p.m. NLH, $40

THURSDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $406:30 p.m. PLO/NLH, $60FRIDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $406:30 p.m. NLH, $60 AO $20 AO $20SATURDAY6:30 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25SUNDAY12:00 p.m. NLH, $140/$240/$5006:30 p.m. NLH, $40

NEVADA

VENETIAN HOTEL & CASINO - LAS VEGASMONDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $150 ($8K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25 ($4K Guarantee)TUESDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $150 ($8K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $200 KO $50 ($9K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $150 ($8K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee)THURSDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $150 ($8K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 KO $25 ($6K Guarantee)FRIDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $200 AO $100 ($20K Guarantee)SATURDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $340 ($25K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee)SUNDAY12:10 p.m. NLH, $250 ($15K Guarantee)6:10 p.m. NLH, $125 ($4K Guarantee)

NEW YORK SENECA NIAGARA - NIAGARA FALLSMONDAY7:00 p.m. NLH, $100 ($2K Guarantee)TUESDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $457:00 p.m. NLH, $45WEDNESDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $807:00 p.m. NLH, $100 ($2K Guarantee)THURSDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $607:00 p.m. NLH, $60FRIDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $80SATURDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $20 ($1K Guarantee)11:00 a.m. NLH, $150SUNDAY10:00 a.m. NLH, $606:00 p.m. NLH, $125 ($2.5K Guarantee)

TURNING STONE - VERONAMONDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $507:00 p.m. NLH, $65

CARDPLAYER.COM 34


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Schedules - Daily tournaments


TUESDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $507:00 p.m. NLH, $15 ($1K Guarantee)WEDNESDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $65 KO $107:00 p.m. NLH, $65THURSDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $65 KO $107:00 p.m. NLH, $15 ($1K Guarantee)FRIDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $100 KO $257:00 p.m. NLH, $50SATURDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $654:00 p.m NLH, $100 KO $257:00 p.m. NLH, $25SUNDAY12:00 p.m NLH, $506:00 p.m. NLH, $30

EASTERN POKER TOUR PUB POKER EVENTS, NEWS, RANKINGS AND UPDATES CAN BE VIEWED AT EAST-ERNPOKERTOUR.COM

NORTH CAROLINA

HARRAH’S - CHEROKEEMONDAY7:00 p.m NLH, $8010:00 p.m NLH, $50

TUESDAY7:00 p.m NLH, $8010:00 p.m NLH, $50WEDNESDAY7:00 p.m NLH, $100 KO $25THURSDAY7:00 p.m NLH, $8010:00 p.m NLH, $45FRIDAY5:00 p.m NLH, $135SATURDAY11:00 a.m NLH, $250SUNDAY10:00 a.m NLH, $802:00 p.m NLH, $2507:00 p.m NLH, $8010:00 p.m NLH, $45

OREGON

WILDHORSE - PENDLETONTUESDAY6:30 p.m. NLH, $35THURSDAY6:30 p.m. NLH, $55SATURDAY1:00 p.m. NLH, $75SUNDAY1:00 p.m. NLH, $35

SOUTH DAKOTA

SILVERADO FRANKLIN - DEADWOODTHURSDAY

6:30 p.m. NLH, $88

SATURDAY

2:00 p.m. NLH, $44

SUNDAY

3:00 p.m. NLH, $33

TEXAS CELEBRITY CARD CLUB - ODESSATUESDAY

7:00 p.m. PLO, $50

THURSDAY

7:00 p.m. NLH, $60

WISCONSIN POTAWATOMI - MILWAUKEETUESDAY

6:15 p.m. NLH, $80

THURSDAY

6:15 p.m. NLH, $125

SUNDAY

12:15 p.m NLH, $150

CARDPLAYER.COM 36


AnalysisTOURNAMENT HAND MATCHUP In this hand, Kevin Rabichow found himself involved in a big pot with an overpair facing a wily opponent who had him out chipped. Rabichow picked up pocket kings as the fi rst to act in the cutoff and min-raised. Rabichow started the hand in second chip position behind only Robert Heidorn, who had recently overtaken the chip lead by winning a fl urry of pots after the fi nal four play-ers returned from a scheduled break. Heidorn was fresh off his best year ever on the live tournament circuit in 2019, having fi nished eighth in the World Series of Poker main event last year for $800,000. Heidorn defended his big blind with 8-6 off suit and fl opped an open-ended straight draw on the J-7-5 board that included two spades. Heidorn elected to use his straight draw as a semi-bluff and check-raised Rabichow’s continuation bet of 75,000 to 280,000. Rabichow called and the J� turn paired the board. Heidorn decided to keep his foot on the gas and bet 300,000. Rabichow was in a precarious situation despite his strong hand. He could simply be up against a semi-bluff , with varying degrees of strength possible there ranging from Heidorn’s actual open-ended straight draw to something like a fl ush and straight combo draw like 10� 9� or 9� 8�. Heidorn could also have trips or better on this turn, with fl opped sets and some possible J-X’s in his fl op check-raising range. Rabichow made the call, though, and the 8� completed the board. At this point Heidorn had missed his straight draw but improved his showdown value. If he were to continue betting, it would likely only be as a bluff , as he would be unlikely to get called by worse. � ere also might not be enough stronger hands that he could hope to fold out with a bluff , outside of perhaps something like pocket nines or pocket tens. In the end, Heidorn elected to just check and Rabichow checked back to take down the sizable pot. Rabichow went on to fi nish fourth in this event for $85,800, while Heidorn earned $122,105 as the third-place fi nisher.

K

K

K

K

8

8

6

6

J

J

7

7

5

5

8

8

J

J

Heidorn checked. Rabichow bet 75,000. Heidorn check-raised to 280,000. Rabichow called.

Heidorn bet 300,000. Rabichow called.

Heidorn checked. Rabichow checked.

With four players remaining and blinds of 25,000-50,000 with a big blind ante of 50,000, Kevin Rabichow raised to 100,000 from the cutoff . Robert

Heidorn called from the big blind.

ANALYSIS


Robert Heidorn4,100,000 chips




FLOP

PREFLOP

TURN

RIVE

R



Card Player Poker TourFor those who play to win.

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OCEAN’S 11 CASINOSchedule TBDJULY 23 TO 26, 2020Oceans11.com • 1-760-439-6988

CARD PLAYER CRUISES$340 No-Limit Hold’em $50 Bounty Sept. 16SEPTEMBER 10 TO 19, 2020Cardplayercruises.com • 1-888-999-4880

THE BICYCLE CASINOSchedule TBDSEPTEMBER 28 TO OCTOBER 20, 2020TheBike.com • 1-800-781-2456

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Poker Leaderboards

WORLD POKER TOUR MAIN TOUR ALL-TIME EARNINGSPlace Player Career Live Earnings

1st Carlos Mortensen $6,738,670

2nd Daniel Negreanu $5,832,951

3rd Michael Mizrachi $5,044,443

4th Tuan Le $4,533,943

5th Chino Rheem $4,063,043

6th Gus Hansen $4,051,782

7th Jonathan Little $4,005,439

8th Alan Goehring $3,968,724

9th J.C. Tran $3,888,598

10th Darren Elias $3,836,799

The World Poker Tour’s first-ever online main event is set to take place from May 10-20 on partypoker. The $5,000,000 guaranteed tournament will see the first player add their name to the WPT Champions Cup from a tournament held on the internet. This event will be the first of the tour’s 19th season. As it currently stands, Spanish poker pro

Carlos Mortensen is the WPT’s leading money winner with more than $6.7 million in cashes on the main WPT tour. Mortensen is one of the six players with three or more titles won on the main tour. Four of the six are among the top ten in total earnings. Those players are Mortensen,

Chino Rheem, Gus Hansen, and the only player with four wins on the tour: Darren Elias. Eric Afriat and

Anthony Zinno have both won three WPT titles as well, but with $3,142,860 and $3,004,959 in respective tour earnings, they sit in 18th and 23rd place on this leaderboard.

ALL-TIME WORLD SERIES OF POKER BRACELET EVENT CASHES

Rank Player WSOP Cashes

1 Phil Hellmuth 153

2 Chris Ferguson 143

3 Daniel Negreanu 131

4 Erik Seidel 114

5 Roland Israelashvili 112

6 Barry Greenstein 110

7 Men Nguyen 100

8 Humberto Brenes 94

9 Chris Bjorin 94

10 Yueqi Zhu 93

The 2020 World Series of Poker has been officially postponed this sum-mer due to the coronavirus outbreak, with the hope being that it can be rescheduled for sometime in the fall. As a result, it might be many months until another official WSOP bracelet event is held. In the mean-time, here is a look at the players who have accumulated the most cashes in bracelet events across the past five decades. Phil Hellmuthis currently sitting in first place on this leaderboard with 153 cashes. He is also the all-time title leader with 15 bracelets, and fourth in career earnings from WSOP events with just more than $15 million. Hellmuth made 12 cashes at the WSOP in Las Vegas in 2019 alone, with another four earned at last year’s WSOP Europe festival. Like Hellmuth, Roland Israelashvili also made 16 total cashes in 2019. He had ten in-the-money finishes in Vegas, then added six more at the WSOPE to bring his career total to 112. As a result he now sits in fifth place in the rankings, just two cashes ahead of sixth-ranked Barry Greenstein.

GERMAN ALL-TIME LIVE TOURNAMENT EARNINGS LISTPlace Player Live Earnings

1st Fedor Holz $32,992,603

2nd Christoph Vogelsang $24,977,615

3rd Rainer Kempe $21,447,162

4th Dominik Nitsche $18,341,826

5th Ole Schemion $16,295,045

6th Steffen Sontheimer $13,755,117

7th Hossein Ensan $12,748,243

8th Koray Aldemir $12,289,051

9th Philipp Gruissem $11,470,050

10th Manig Loeser $11,204,098

Germany has produced a number of the best high-stakes tournament poker players in the world, and is the most represented country near the top of the all-time money list outside of America. Fedor Holz is the nation’s leading earner with just shy of $33 million in total live tournament cashes. Holz currently sits in eighth place on the overall money list, and is the only German among the top ten. Christoph Vogelsang is the next-highest earner with more than $24.9 million in career scores. Vogelsang has accumulated six seven-figure cashes, but has only won two live tournament titles in his career. His largest score came when he took down the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl for $6 million. Vogelsang came close to a second SHRBtitle this year. He finished runner-up in the 2020 SHRB Russia for $2.4 million in March to help close the gap between himself and Holz. He remains more than $8 million behind his fellow countryman.

$4,533,943

$4,063,043

$4,051,782

$4,005,439

$3,968,724

$3,888,598

$3,836,799

Carlos Mortensen is the more than $6.7 million in cashes on the mainMortensen is one of the six players with three or more titles won on the main tour. Four of the six are among the top ten in total earnings. Those players are Mortensen,

Chino Rheem, Gus Hansen, and the only player with four wins on the tour:

Anthony Zinno have both won threeas well, but with $3,142,860 and $3,004,959 in respective tour earnings, they sit in 18th and 23rd place on this leaderboard.

money list, and is the only German among the top ten. Christoph is the next-highest earner with more than $24.9

million in career scores. Vogelsang has accumulated six seven-figure cashes, but has only won two live tournament titles in his career. His largest score came

Super High Roller Bowl for $6 million. Vogelsang came close to a second SHRBtitle this year. He finished runner-up in the 2020 SHRB Russia for $2.4 million in March to help close the gap between himself and Holz. He

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